A connected plant is a networked “connected” refinery or processing plant that implements an industrial process control and/or automation system having various wireless and wired control rooms, security communication networks, and in-plant monitoring devices and systems. Examples of a connected plant include petrochemical processing facilities or other refining and processing plant environments.
In the process control industry, the use of smart pressure, temperature, and level field instruments has become commonplace, because they can be installed almost anywhere at a facility due to their compact size. For field installations utilizing wired devices, the wired device may be used on a continuous process that operates on a long-term basis. Because of the continuous nature of the process, the wired device should not be removed from service for even a brief period, as doing so can disrupt the process and cause business losses.